The ancient Olympics
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- Publication date
- 2004
- Topics
- Olympische Spiele, Olympic games (Ancient), Olympische Spelen, Griekse oudheid, Jeux Olympiques, Antiquité, Histoire, Soziologie
- Publisher
- Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press
- Collection
- internetarchivebooks; americana; inlibrary; printdisabled
- Contributor
- Internet Archive
- Language
- English
- Item Size
- 402.9M
Includes bibliographical references (p. 252-264) and index
'War minus the shooting' -- In training for beautiful goodness -- The programme of agony -- Sweet victory -- The politics of contest -- Olympia: the origins -- Olympia: the afterlife
The word "athletics" is derived from the Greek verb "to struggle or to suffer for a prize." As Nigel Spivey reveals in this engaging account of the Olympics in ancient Greece, "suffer" is putting it mildly. Indeed, the Olympics were not so much a graceful display of Greek beauty as a war fought by other means. Nigel Spivey paints a portrait of the Greek Olympics as they really were--fierce contexts between bitter rivals, in which victors won kudos and rewards, and losers faced scorn and even assault. Victory was almost worth dying for, the author notes, and a number of athletes did just that. Many more resorted to cheating and bribery. Contested always bitterly and often bloodily, the ancient Olympics were no an idealistic celebration of unity, but a clash of military powers in an arena not far removed from the battlefield. The author explores what the events were, the rules for competitors, training and diet, the pervasiveness of cheating and bribery, the prizes on offer, the exclusion of "barbarians," and protocols on pederasty. He also peels back the mythology surrounding the games today and investigates where our current conception of the Olympics has come from and how the Greek notions of beauty and competitiveness have influenced our modern culture. As a Cambridge classicist and athletics coach, Nigel Spivey is uniquely qualified to write this eye-opening account of the Greek Olympics. Anyone interested in the ancient world or in the Olympic games will be fascinated by this revealing history
'War minus the shooting' -- In training for beautiful goodness -- The programme of agony -- Sweet victory -- The politics of contest -- Olympia: the origins -- Olympia: the afterlife
The word "athletics" is derived from the Greek verb "to struggle or to suffer for a prize." As Nigel Spivey reveals in this engaging account of the Olympics in ancient Greece, "suffer" is putting it mildly. Indeed, the Olympics were not so much a graceful display of Greek beauty as a war fought by other means. Nigel Spivey paints a portrait of the Greek Olympics as they really were--fierce contexts between bitter rivals, in which victors won kudos and rewards, and losers faced scorn and even assault. Victory was almost worth dying for, the author notes, and a number of athletes did just that. Many more resorted to cheating and bribery. Contested always bitterly and often bloodily, the ancient Olympics were no an idealistic celebration of unity, but a clash of military powers in an arena not far removed from the battlefield. The author explores what the events were, the rules for competitors, training and diet, the pervasiveness of cheating and bribery, the prizes on offer, the exclusion of "barbarians," and protocols on pederasty. He also peels back the mythology surrounding the games today and investigates where our current conception of the Olympics has come from and how the Greek notions of beauty and competitiveness have influenced our modern culture. As a Cambridge classicist and athletics coach, Nigel Spivey is uniquely qualified to write this eye-opening account of the Greek Olympics. Anyone interested in the ancient world or in the Olympic games will be fascinated by this revealing history
- Access-restricted-item
- true
- Addeddate
- 2010-09-08 18:34:10
- Bookplateleaf
- 0004
- Boxid
- IA127202
- Camera
- Canon EOS 5D Mark II
- City
- New York
- Donor
- marincountyfreelibrary
- Edition
- 1. publ.
- External-identifier
-
urn:oclc:record:1028043614
urn:lcp:ancientolympics00spiv:lcpdf:c84c9987-d4b2-4d7c-b6ae-1a58b22a3555
urn:lcp:ancientolympics00spiv:epub:de2b097b-baa5-4cdc-b8b6-39973299bbde
- Foldoutcount
- 0
- Identifier
- ancientolympics00spiv
- Identifier-ark
- ark:/13960/t7np2tq6h
- Isbn
-
0192804332
9780192804334
- Lccn
- 2004046147
- Ocr
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- Openlibrary_edition
- OL17930045M
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- OL2757075W
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- Page_number_confidence
- 100
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- Pages
- 316
- Ppi
- 400
- Related-external-id
-
urn:isbn:0192806041
urn:lccn:2004046147
urn:oclc:254710861
urn:oclc:318404874
urn:oclc:434475275
urn:oclc:85479904
urn:oclc:186300523
urn:oclc:492849768
urn:isbn:0191655414
urn:oclc:823719798
urn:isbn:0199602697
urn:oclc:779863491
urn:oclc:806280766
urn:oclc:810879665
urn:oclc:820399675
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urn:oclc:840098820
- Scandate
- 20100914044003
- Scanner
- scribe6.sanfrancisco.archive.org
- Scanningcenter
- sanfrancisco
- Worldcat (source edition)
- 186300523
- Full catalog record
- MARCXML
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